Drapery pin inserter

ABSTRACT

A pin inserter having an elongated handle portion for permitting manual insertion of drapery pins into draperies. The inserter has a head portion containing groove means therein for permitting a conventional drapery pin to be mounted thereon. The head portion is connected to one end of the handle portion and projects toward the rearward end of the handle portion for permitting pins to be manually inserted into draperies by means of a pulling motion. Selected points on the handle are identified and usable to locate accurately the point of insertion of the pin with respect to the edge of the drapery.

United States Patent [1 1 I I I 7/////\////[//////// Hoare 1 1 Sept. 3, 1974 DRAPERY PIN INSERTER Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-J. T. Zatarga 5 I t h H St M h. [7 1 men or ll 7 V, Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard & [73] Assignee: KirschCompany,Sturgis,Mich. Fl n [22] Filed: May 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 357,876 [57] ABSTRACT A pin inserter having an elongated handle portion for [52] US. Cl 145/46, 29/278, 81/3 R, permitting manual insertion of drapery pins into drap- 227/107 cries. The inserter has a head portion containing [51] Int. Cl. B25c 3/00 groove means therein for permitting a conventional [58] Field of Search 145/46; 81/3 R; 227/107; drapery pin to be mounted thereon. The head portion 29/278 is connected to one end of the handle portion and projects toward the rearward end of the handle por- [56] References Cited tion for permitting pins to be manually inserted into UNITED STATES PATENTS draperies by means of a pulling motion. Selected 2 789 287 4/1957 Lambert 145] points on the handle are identified and usable to lo- 2:9]0:699 11/1959 Fish cate accurately the point of insertion of the pin with 3,546,981 12/1970 Niel 145/46 respect to the edge of the p y- 3,722,067 3/1973 Harkins 227/107 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Zia [III I III/l DRAPERY PIN INSERTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved tool for permitting manual insertion of drapery pins into a drapery and, in particular, to a tool having a head portion adapted to have a single drapery pin mounted thereon for facilitating insertion of the pin into the drapery by means of a pulling motion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There has long existed a need for a simple tool to facilitate the manual insertion of drapery pins into a drapery. While numerous tools and devices for this purpose have previously been devised, all of these tools have, to the best of my knowledge, presented operational or structural disadvantages which have limited their usefulness.

The known devices have generally constituted two different types, the first being a tool structure having a magazine or cartridge thereon for holding a plurality of pins, and the second being a hand-held tool structure designed to have only a single pin mounted thereon.

Tools of the first-mentioned type, namely those having a pin-holding cartridge or magazine, while widely used in high production operations, such as a commercial workroom, have proven undesirable in many use situations due to their size and/or bulkiness, which makes such tools cumbersome to utilize. Further, tools of this type, due to their structural and/or mechanical complexity, are relatively expensive and hence are inapplicable to low production, as domestic, applications.

Tools of the second-mentioned type, namely those designed to have only .a single pin mounted thereon, while not applicable to high production uses, have proven advantageous for domestic uses due to their small size and weight. This thus permits the tool to be utilized for extended periods without'unduly tiring the user of the tool. Further, tools of this type can generally be manufactured relatively inexpensively, thereby enhancing the saleability and widescale use of .same. However. tools of this latter-mentioned type have also possessed certain disadvantages. Particularly. to the best of my knowledge, all of the knovm single-pin tools utilize a structure which requires a pushing motion by the operator to permit insertion of the pin into a drapery. However, a pushing motion is more difficult to control and is generally more tiring than is a pulling motion. Further, the known single-pin tools have generally resulted in the tool-holding hand of the user being positioned between the head of the user and the pin. Thus, the users hand often restricts the visibility of the pin-inserting operation. The known single-pin tools have also generally required that the users wrist be angularly tilted during utilization of the tool, which angular flexing or orientation of the wrist can be tiring to the user. Still further, a pushing-type tool requires that the entire drapery be between the user of such tool and the drapery head. In a long drapery, or with one made of stiff material, this can be very incovenient.

A still further problem has arisen in the use of conventional pin-inserting tools in connection with the placement of the point of the pin for insertion in accurate relationship to the edge of the drapery so that when fully inserted the bight of the pin will be properly spaced from the edge of the drapery. Conventionally, there have been used various types of means for spacing the hook properly from the edge of the drapery and with simple manual hooks this usually means some measuring device to be held in one hand of the operator while the hook-inserting device is held in the other hand. This makes somewhat difficult the simultaneous holding of the drapery itself during the hook-inserting operation and renders further difficult an already difficult procedure.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tool of the single-pin type designed to facilitate manual insertion of pins into draperies and designed to overcome the numerous disadvantages of the known structures. Particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide:

1. An improved pin-inserter tool, as aforesaid, adapted to have a single drapery pin mounted thereon and designed to permit the manual insertion of the pin into a drapery by means of a pulling motion.

2. A tool, as aforesaid, which permits the users hand to be positioned away from the pin-inserting area to thus provide unrestricted visibility of the pin-inserting operation.

3. A tool, as aforesaid. which includes an elongated handle portion adapted to be manually grasped and a head portion adapted to have a single pin mounted thereon, which head portion projects toward the user of the tool to permit insertion of the pin into a drapery by a pulling motion.

4. A tool, as aforesaid, wherein the head portion is fixedly connected to the front end of the handle portion and projects rearwardly toward the rear end thereof.

5. A tool, as aforesaid. which can be used simultaneously both for spacing the point of insertion of the point of the pin at the proper distance from the edge of the drapery at the same time the pin is made ready for insertion in order that both the measuring and insertion operation may be performed by the user with one hand,

whereby to leave the other hand completely free for proper. firm and accurate control of the drapery itself.

6. A tool, as aforesaid, which is of small size and light weight to thus facilitate its continual use without tiring the user.

7. A tool, as aforesaid, which has a handle portion designed to be conveniently and manually gripped and which permits the users lower arm and hand to be substantially aligned during use of the tool, thereby not re-.

quiring a severe cocking or tilting of the users wrist.

8. A tool, as aforesaid, which is extremely durable and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and purposes of the present invention will be apparent to persons familiar with devices of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 5 is an exploded elevational view, taken partially in cross section, showing the tool positioned to permit a conventional drapery pin to be mounted thereon.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view, taken partially in cross section, and showing the tool after insertion of the pin into the drapery.

Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words upwardly, downwardly, leftwardly and rightwardly will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words forward and rearward will respectively refer to the left and right ends of the tool as appearing in FIGS. 1 and 5. The words inwardly" and outwardly will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the tool and associated parts thereof. Said terminology will specifically include the above-mentioned words, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects and purposes of the present invention are met by providing a pin-inserter tool having an elongated handle portion and a pin-engaging head portion fixedly secured to the forward end of the handle portion. The head portion projects toward the rearward end of the handle portion so that the head portion, when the tool is manually grasped, projects toward the user of the tool. The head portion has a configuration which permits it to be inserted into the opening defined by the drapery pin. The head portion engages the pin at a plurality of points to permit the drapery pin to be properly supported on and releasably engaged by the head portion. The head portion includes flanges which extend outwardly and on opposite lateral sides of the hook.

In the use .of the present invention, a drapery is positioned on a support surface so that the upper edge of the drapery header is disposed closely adjacent the operator. The operator then manually grips the handle portion of the tool. same having a single pin engaged on the head portion thereof, and then positions same so that the point of the drapery pin is positioned to be inserted into the drapery header. The free hand of the operator can be used to assist in holding the drapery, which free hand engages the drapery at a location spaced outwardly from the operators body by a greater distance than the pin inserting area. The free hand of the user thus does not restrict the operators visibility of the pin-inserting operation. The pin is then inserted by means of the operator exerting a pulling motion on the tool, which pulling motion causes the tool to be moved inwardly toward the operarators body to thus cause the pointed end portion of the pin to be inserted into the drapery header. After the pin has been fully in serted into the header, the tool can be easily released from the pin merely by manually pushing the tool outwardly away from the operator, since the forces holding the pin in engagement with the drapery header are greater than the holding force between the pin and the head portion of the tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates therein a tool 10 constructed according to the present invention and designed for permitting insertion of a conventional drapery hook into a drapery header. The tool 10 includes an elongated handle portion 11 designed to be conveniently and comfortably gripped within the hand of the user of the tool. A head portion 12 is fixedly, here integrally, connected to a forward end of the handle portion 11 and is adapted to have a conventional drapery pin 13 releasably mounted thereon.

The handle portion 11, in the illustrated embodiment, has a substantially I-shaped cross section (FIG. 4) to thus provide the handle with substantial strength while minimizing weight. The Handle portion includes a central web portion 16 and substantially transverse top and bottom flanges l7 and 18 fixedly, here integrally, connected to an extending longitudinally along the upper and lower edges of the central web portion. A further transverse flange 19 is fixedly secured to the rearward end of the central portion 16 and integrally extends between the rearward ends of the flanges l7 and 18'. The central portion is thus substantially totally surrounded by the transverse flanges.

The forward end of the handle portion 11 is provided with a narrow neck portion 21 which projects downwardly (in the normal position of use) relative to the longitudinal direction of, but within the same plane as, the handle portion and is fixedly, here integrally, connected to the head portion 12. The neck portion 21 results in the head portion 12 being displaced downwardly (in the normal position of use) below the handle portion 1 I, with the longitudinal center line of the head portion being displaced similarly from but substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the handle portion 11 and in essentially the same plane as said handle portion 11.

The head portion 12 comprises a blocklike member which is integrally connected tothe neck portion 21 and, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, is elongated in a direction toward the rearward end of the handle portion 11 to define therewith a generally U-shaped contour in which one leg of the U is longer than the other. The head portion 12 has a thickness, as illustrated in FIG. 3, substantially equal to the maximum thickness of the handle portion II, as determined by the flanges 17 and 18.

The head portion 12 has a substantially continuous external groove 22 formed around the upper and lower sides thereof, which groove is defined between upwardly extending parallel flanges 23 and downwardly extending parallel flanges 24. The groove 22 is disposed substantially within the central longitudinal vertical plane of the head portion 12 and preferably has a width, as defined between the parallel flanges, substantially equal to but slightly greater than the width of a conventional drapery pin 13. The pin 13 can thus be loosely but closely confined between the flanges 23 and 24 when the hook part of the pin is disposed within the groove 22. The head portion 12 also has a blind recess 26 formed therein in the region where the head portion is integrally connected to the neck portion 21. The recess 26 is substantially aligned with and constitutes an extension of the upper portion of the groove 22.

The bottom wall of the groove 22 is defined by a pair of opposed, substantially parallel surfaces 27 and 28 (FIG. 5) which merge with a pair of converging surfaces 31 and 32, which in turn project toward the free end of the head portion and terminate in a rounded nose surface 33. The head portion 12 also has a recess 34 formed in the central portion thereof, and a pair of transverse grooves 36 and 37 extending through the upper and lower flanges 23 and 24, respectively.

FIG. 5 illustrates therein a conventional drapery pin 13, which pin here includes inner and outer legs 41 and 42 interconnected by a rounded bottom portion 43. The legs 41 and 42 and the cooperating bottom portion 43 thus define a rearwardly opening U-shaped hook part 44 adapted to be engaged with any suited support, such as a drapery traverse rod. The pin 13 also includes an elongated and substantially straight pin portion 39 having a conventional point on the forward free end and, at its rearward end, being integrally connected to the end of the inner leg 41 by means of an intermediate curved portion 46 As is conventional, the inner leg 41 is disposed directly adjacent the pin portion 39 and cooperates therewith to yieldably hold or grip the drapery fabric which is engaged therebetween.

The legs 41 and 42 of the hook part 44 slightly contween slightly less than the maximum width across the interior of the hook part.

OPERATION The operation of the pin inserter of the present invention will be briefly discussed to insure a complete understanding thereof.

When it is desired to utilize the pin inserter 10, a conventional drapery pin 13 is first mounted on the head portion 12. The head portion 12 and the pin 13 are positioned substantially in a relative relationship as illustrated in FIG. 5, whereupon the pin 13 is then relatively moved toward the head portion 12 to thus cause the head portion to enter into the rearwardly directed hook part 44. Since the groove 22 has a width slightly greater than the width of the wire stock from which the pin 13 is manufactured, the hook part 44 will enter into the groove 22 as defined between the flanges 23 and 24, which flanges prevent the pin from being displaced laterally. The pin 13 will be relatively moved onto the head portion 12 until the nose 33 is disposed substantially in engagement with the inner surface of the bottom portion 43. When this position is reached, the projection47 on the free end of the outer leg 42 will be disposed substantially within the blind recess 26, and the curved portion 46 will be positioned directly adjacent the rearward end of the surface 28. F urther, the projection 47 and portion 46 are preferably disposed in engagement with the surfaces 27 and28, respectively, to thus provide two points of contact with the drapery pin 13 for supporting same. A further point of contact between the head portion 12 and the drapery pin 13 also preferably occurs either adjacent the nose surface 33 or adjacent the apex defined by the point-of intersection of the surfaces 27 and 31. The pin 13 is thus-supported on the head portion at a plurality of pointlike contacts, such as bybeing supported at three or four contact points. This thus greatly facilitates the insertion of the pin onto or removal'of the pin off of the head portion 12. j Y

However, since the drapery pin 13 must be maintainable on the head portion 12 when the tool is being manually manipulated, the hook part 44 is preferably slightly resiliently deformed as it is inserted onto the head portion 12 to thus create a slight resilient engagement between the hook part 44 and the head portion. For this purpose, the minimum transverse distance between the free ends of the leg portions 41 and 42 is preferably slightly less than the transverse distance between the surfaces 27 and 28, whereupon the leg portions are thus slightly springably moved away from one another as the hook part 44 is inserted onto the head portion 12, thereby creating sufficient resilient force to releasably maintain the drapery pin 13 on the head portion 12.

After the drapery pin 13 has been engaged on the head portion of the tool, it is then in condition to permit insertion of the pointed part 39 into the header 48 of the conventional drapery 49, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Prior to the actual insertion operation, the drapery 49 is positioned on a suitable support surface, such as on a table, with the header or upper edge 48 of the drapery being positioned directly adjacent the workman and the main body of the drapery 49 being positioned remote from the workman so as to not interfere with either the workmans mobility or the pin insertion operation. That is, the upper edge or header 48 is positioned between the workman and the main body of the drapery so that, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the workman is positioned to the right side of the header 48, whereas the main body of the drapery 49 is positioned on the left side of the header 48. When so positioned, the workman then manually grasps the tool 10 and positions the pointed free end of the pin portion 39 adjacent the bottom of the header 48 to permit insertion of the pointed free end between the layers of the header. The workman then manually pulls the tool in a direction toward his body in the direction indicated by the arrow 51. This thus results in the pin portion 39 entering into and between the layers of material so that at least one layer of material 52 will be yeildably held between the inner leg 41 and the pin portion 39.

After the pin portion 39 has been fully inserted, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the tool 10 is then pushed manually away from the workmans body (leftwardly in FIG. 6) to disengage the tool from the pin 13. This disengagement is easily accomplished inasmuch as a substantial frictional holding force is applied to the material layer 52 due to its being yieldably held between the inner leg portion 41 and the pin portion 39. The yieldable holding force generated in this manner is greater than the frictional force which exists between the head 1 portion 12 and the hook part 44, whereupon the tool can thus be easily disengaged from the pin 13 to permit the pin to remain properly positioned on the header 48.

The tool 10 of the present invention, while it can be I forwardly from the front of the handle and thus required a pushing motion to permit insertion of the drapery pin into the drapery. Particularly, by having the head project rearwardly to permit operation by a pulling motion, the tool 10 of the present invention thus permits the main body of the drapery to be positioned in a remote location relative to the workman so that the drapery thus does not interfere with the workmans mobility. On the other hand, the prior tools which require a pushing motion require the main body of the drapery to be positioned between the workman and the header of the drapery, whereupon the large and cumbersome body of the drapery often greatly restricts or interferes with the workmans mobility. Also, by utilizing a tool having an offset head portion which permits utilization of a pulling motion, as in the present invention, the workman has unrestricted visibility of the pin inserting operation since the point of the pin extends toward the workman, whereas in the known devices, the pushing operation necessarily results in the 7 point extending away from the workman which thus restricts the visibility of the pin inserting operation.

The tool 10 of the present invention can, if desired, be provided with one or more indicating locations on the handle thereof. This permits the handle portion 11 to be used as a measuring device, thereby enabling the point of insertion of the drapery pin to be easily mea sured from the upper edge of the drapery. For example, the handle 11 can have its corner 53 thereon positionable so that it is directly adjacent the free edge of the drapery when the handle of the tool is positioned with the hook ready for insertion, as illustrated by the dotted line position of the drapery in FIG. 6. This will thus determine the proper point of insertion for the drapery pin, such spacing being chosen so that when the hook is fully inserted as shown in the solid line portion of FIG. 6 the distance D is a predetermined value. in this instance one and one half inches. Supplementally, a further indicator 54 can if desired be added for measurement of a different predetermined amount in order that the same pin-inserting tool may be utilized for a plurality, here two, of different drapery-hook spacing relationships. Other spacing or measuring locations may be selected and marked along the lower edge of the handle 11 as needed or desired,

It will be noted that the edge 55 of the handle defines a line which when projected toward the head 12 will pass at least close to the nearest end of said head. In this manner, said edge 55 will when the inserter is in use lie approximately flat on the drapery material for the more accurate and convenient measuring thereof at and by the corner 53 or whatever other measuring indi cia may be placed along said lower edge. In this man ner, the point of insertion for a plurality ofdrapery pins can be uniformly determined relative to the upper edge of the drapery without requiring a separate measuring instrument. On the other hand. in the known devices which require a pushing motion, the tool during operation extends downwardly from the drapery header, rather than upwardly. Accordingly, the prior insertion tools could not as readily be utilized as measuring devices, and it was thus necessary to use a separate measuring device to permit the point of insertion to be properly measured relative to the upper edge of the drapery.

The tool 10 of the present invention also permits utilization of a substantially larger handle portion 11 without increasing the overal length of the tool. This is possible since the head portion on which the drapery pin is mounted extends rearwardly to overlap the handle, rather than forwardly as in the prior devices. In many situations, the size of the tool, particularly the length thereof, is limited since the tool may be packaged within a box of limited size, which box also contains therein the drapery pins. The tool of the present invention, within a predetermined size of box, thus can be provided with a substantially larger handle portion (in comparison to the prior known devices), which handle portion thus permits the tool to be held much more confortably when being used for inserting hooks.

While the invention as described and illustrated above and as illustrated in the drawings makes specific reference to a particular pin configuration, such as the pin 13 illustrated in FIG. 5, nevertheless it will be recognized from the foregoing that the tool 10 of the present invention can have the head portion thereof varied as neccesary in order to accomodate a wide range of conventional drapery pin shapes. Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A tool adapted to engage and carry a drapery pin having an elongated pin portion with a pointed front and a laterally projecting, rearwardly opening hook portion, said tool when said drapery pin is mounted thereon permitting insertion of said pin portion into a drapery, comprising:

elongated handle means having a configuration permitting same to be manually gripped; and

head means snugly engageable in the inside of the hook portion at multiple points thereon for permitting a drapery pin to be firmly but releasably carried thereon;

said head means being fixedly connected to said handle means adjacent one end thereof and offset with respect thereto with the free end of said head means projecting substantially toward the other end of said handle means to define therewith a generally U-shaped contour, whereby the pointed front end of the pin portion substantially points toward said other end of said handle means when said drapery pin is mounted on said head means.

2. A tool according to claim 1, wherein said head means is elongated and has one end thereof fixedly interconnected to said one end of said handle means, the other end of said head means being free and being disposed between the opposite ends of said handle means.

3. A tool according to claim 1, wherein said head means is elongated in a direction substantially parallel to the elongated direction of said handle means, said head means having one end thereof fixedly interconnected to said one end of said handle means, the other end of said head means being free and projecting in a direction generally toward the other end of said handle means.

4. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said handle means includes a reduced neck portion adjacent said 6. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said head means has external wall means for releasable engagement with the hook portion of a drapery pin for permittingsaid hook portion to be supported at a plurality of spaced contact points.

7. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said tool is constructed in one piece of plastic material, and wherein said handle means has a substantially I-shaped cross section. 

1. A tool adapted to engage and carry a drapery pin having an elongated pin portion with a pointed front and a laterally projecting, rearwardly opening hook portion, said tool when said drapery pin is mounted thereon permitting insertion of said pin portion into a drapery, comprising: elongated handle means having a configuration permitting same to be manually gripped; and head means snugly engageable in the inside of the hook portion at multiple points thereon for permitting a drapery pin to be firmly but releasably carried thereon; said head means being fixedly connected to said handle means adjacent one end thereof and offset with respect thereto with the free end of said head means projecting substantially toward the other end of said handle means to define therewith a generally U-shaped contour, whereby the pointed front end of the pin portion substantially points toward said other end of said handle means when said drapery pin is mounted on said head means.
 2. A tool according to claim 1, wherein said head means is elongated and has one end thereof fixedly interconnected to said one end of said handle means, the other end of said head means being free and being disposed between the opposite ends of said handle means.
 3. A tool according to claim 1, wherein said head means is elongated in a direction substantially parallel to the elongated direction of said handle means, said head means having one end thereof fixedly interconnected to said one end of said handle means, the other end of said head means being free and projecting in a direction generally toward The other end of said handle means.
 4. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said handle means includes a reduced neck portion adjacent said one end thereof, said neck portion projecting substantially downwardly of the elongated direction of said handle means and being fixedly connected to said one end of said head means.
 5. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said head means includes flange means defining groove means adapted to receive therein the hook portion of a drapery pin, said flange means being disposed on laterally opposite sides of the hook portion for substantially preventing lateral displacement of the drapery pin when same is mounted on the head means.
 6. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said head means has external wall means for releasable engagement with the hook portion of a drapery pin for permitting said hook portion to be supported at a plurality of spaced contact points.
 7. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said tool is constructed in one piece of plastic material, and wherein said handle means has a substantially I-shaped cross section. 